Summers of Firelilies
by cherylwoo
Summary: An AU of Hetalia characters in the Avatar: the Last Airbender universe. Occurs well after the events of the 100-Year War and the Harmony Restoration Movement. You don't need to have watched Avatar to understand the story. Arthur, the Earth Kingdom prince, glimpses a subject of his kingdom catch a robber. England/China, Denmark/Norway, Spain/Belgium, Hong Kong/Iceland and some OCs.
1. Chapter 1

A/N – Okay, I know that the Avatar: the Last Airbender universe consists of Asians. But Hetalia is not restricted to just Asia. Thus, I decided to use some creative license, and placed the Fire Nation to the Asian/Eastern part of the world, and the other nations to the Western part of the world.

A/N2 – I know I said that you don't need to have watched Avatar: the Last Airbender to understand the story. But you have to know a couple of things. Firstly, benders are capable of manipulating elements with specific movements, i.e. firebenders manipulate fire, earthbenders manipulate earth, etc. Non-benders don't have bending ability, i.e. they are normal human beings like you and me. Secondly, chi-blocking prevents benders from bending. With that said, please enjoy the story!

Arthur stifled a yawn as he dug into his bowl of noodles in the outdoor section of a restaurant in Ba Sing Se. With his earthbending, he casually circled a few tiny pieces of gravel he had picked up along the way around each other.

Arthur was the Earth Kingdom crown prince. His father was the Earth King and his mother was the Earth Queen. Naturally, Arthur was bound to inherit the throne when his father retired.

"My prince, will you stop playing with your food?!" Arthur's personal guard scolded him.

Arthur glanced up, where his earthbender guard was seated opposite him. Ludwig was a no-nonsense type of person, and could not stand to see time being wasted.

Ordinarily, Ludwig would be standing at attention by Arthur's side, ready to protect the prince. But as they were disguised as commoners, Ludwig was posing as Arthur's friend, and so was seating opposite the prince.

"Would you please relax, Ludwig?" groaned Arthur, rolling his eyes. "And please don't call me 'my prince' – we are here to get out of the palace."

Ludwig bowed his head. "I'm sorry."

"Are you done with your food?" Arthur peered curiously at Ludwig's empty bowl.

"Yes, that's why I'm pestering you to finish eating!"

Arthur hid a smile behind his hand. "Chill," he told Ludwig. "Look," Arthur said, pointing towards a small market in their vicinity. "There're a few shops over there – why don't you go look at some of the stuff they have on sale?"

Ludwig frowned. "But I can't leave you alone and unguarded…"

Arthur sighed. He didn't like to use his status as a prince to order his guard around. But if he didn't want Ludwig breathing down his back, he had to. "We're in disguise and no one here knows my identity," Arthur articulated. "And… That's an order."

Ludwig looked hesitantly at Arthur.

Arthur gestured encouragingly for Ludwig to leave.

Ludwig made an exasperated sound. "So do I meet you back here, my pr-?" Ludwig clamped his hand over his mouth to stop himself before he gave away Arthur's identity once again.

Arthur smirked. "I'm sure you'll be able to find me." That much was true – no matter where Arthur was, Ludwig was so accustomed to guarding Arthur that he had more or less accustomed himself to the prince's presence to be able to detect him anywhere.

Wordlessly, Ludwig got up and left.

Arthur chuckled to himself as he watched his guard leave. He slurped up more of his noodles. Ludwig didn't know it, but he needed to take his eyes off Arthur and get a life, even if it was his duty to guard Arthur.

Arthur looked around. The subjects of his kingdom were busy with their daily lives, bustling down and across the street in a hurry.

Suddenly, a girl's shout could be heard. "Hey!"

There was a brief commotion, and Arthur quickly made his way out of the restaurant to see what was happening.

A man, not more than 25 years of age perhaps, violently pushed Arthur out of the way, as he ran past the prince. There was a young girl chasing him from behind. It looked like he had snatched away the girl's bag when she wasn't paying attention.

Arthur was about to give chase to the robber when a stream of fire rushed past him and knocked the robber off his feet and onto the ground. The robber fell with a loud cry of pain. The stream of fire transformed into a wall of fire and circled itself around the robber, trapping him.

Arthur was highly impressed. He didn't see many firebenders around the Earth Kingdom. The Earth Kingdom's Fire Nation colonies where most firebenders in the Earth Kingdom lived had now been transformed into the United Republic of Nations, where benders and non-benders from all four nations could live together and thrive within one city.

The firebender appeared from within the crowd, with the young girl following behind him. He adorned the Fire Nation's colours – he was wearing a red shirt and black trousers. He had long hair, tied back into a pony tail and his eyes were blazing.

Arthur watched as the firebender walked towards the fire wall surrounding the robber. With a fluid movement, he lowered the wall and took the girl's bag away from the robber. He handed the bag back to the girl, who thanked him with a wide smile.

The robber was still sitting on the ground, stunned. He did not think that he would have been bested by a firebender.

The firebender turned back to the robber, glaring at him fiercely. He wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulder. "Should I have you over to the authorities or have you apologise to this girl, aru?"

The robber glared back at the firebender. "Fucking firebender!" he yelled viciously with hatred in his eyes. "I don't answer to you!" It was clear that the robber still had a strong dislike towards firebenders and the Fire Nation in general due to the 100-year war.

The firebender's eyes narrowed, and he shot a couple of fireballs at the robber's head. "Watch what you are saying!"

It was then the local authorities rushed over. They had seen a commotion and had come to check it out. After a brief conversation with the firebender, they arrested the now injured robber and took him away.

Arthur observed the whole exchange take place. He saw the young girl thank the firebender before going off on her way. He even saw the firebender leave the scene.

Arthur had seen many firebenders firebend in his lifetime, but none of them had the grace and fluidity of motion as this firebender had. His firebending was perfect. And his eyes… they held some sort of passion in them that Arthur could not describe… Arthur decided that he couldn't let the firebender out of his sight, so he followed him. Arthur wanted to know where he lived. He seemed so strange and out of place in the Earth Kingdom. But that was not necessarily a bad thing. Arthur wanted to know everything about this firebender.

The prince followed the firebender all the way to a house in Ba Sing Se, nearer to the borders of the Middle Ring of the city. This indicated that the firebender was from the middle-class populace of the Earth Kingdom.

A young, beautiful girl sprinted out to greet the firebender. "Brother Yao! You're home!" she exclaimed.

So the firebender's name was Yao. Arthur voicelessly mouthed the name. He grinned to himself. He liked the way the name rolled in his mouth.

As the girl embraced Yao and wrapped her arms tightly around his middle, Yao gasped. "You are getting too strong to be pressing on me, Mei," he uttered. "Next time, a hug will do, aru."

Mei pouted. "But you're so nice to glomp!"

Yao smiled. "Well, you are getting too strong to be 'glomping' people," he told his sister. "You'll kill them!" he jokingly said.

Mei looked at the ground. It looked like she felt guilty for hurting her oldest brother. "I'm sorry – does it hurt?"

Yao chuckled and rubbed the top of Mei's head, messing up her hair slightly. "It's okay. I'm your big brother – I can withstand anything!"

Then, the siblings entered the house.

Arthur crept nearer and nearer towards the house. He eventually found himself kneeling by one of the windows and peeking inside the house. He was determined to learn more about this mesmerising firebender.

Over the course of four hours, Arthur learnt that Yao was the oldest out of five children. His siblings, in order, were Kiku, Yong Soo, Mei and Hong Kong. Yao was the head of the family, and his siblings went to him for everything – advice, problems, grumblings… Yao also did most of the chores around the house. It must be pretty tiresome, being Yao… But that made him even more attractive to Arthur. Arthur liked the fact that Yao could have so many things on his plate, and yet still manage it all without complains.

"Here you are, my prince," a gruff voice said into Arthur's ear.

Arthur's head whipped around to look at his big-sized guard. "Ludwig!" he hissed. "You're too conspicuous! Squat down!"

Ludwig did as he was told and drew nearer to the prince. "Why, may I ask, are we acting so stealthily?"

"Earlier on, I saw a firebender reprimand a robber," explained Arthur. "And I guess I was fascinated by him, so I followed him home."

"So you are now spying on him."

There was a pause. Ludwig looked at the prince closely. To his amusement, Arthur was blushing.

"Yeah, I guess," said the prince in a small voice. Ludwig didn't think it was possible, but Arthur got redder at that admission.

"My prince, do you like this firebender?"

There was another pause. This time, the pause was longer than the last.

Nevertheless, Ludwig waited patiently for the prince to answer his question.

"Maybe," Arthur finally said softly. "Perhaps. I don't know."

"Hmm?"

"I mean, I haven't even talked to him yet! What I know about him is from what I've been observing for the past four hours," Arthur reasoned.

"Do you like what you've seen so far?"

Arthur closed his eyes and tilted his head towards the sky. "Yes. Very much."

"Why don't you introduce yourself to him?"

Arthur scoffed. "And say what? 'Hi, I saw you firebend and catch a robber, and I think you're really hot, want to go on a date with me?' It doesn't work like that, Ludwig!"

"I didn't mean ask him on a date yet," said Ludwig. "Introduce yourself to him. Get to know him better."

Arthur hummed quietly. He looked thoughtful. "Maybe I will do that…" he murmured. "But…"

"My prince?"

"I need to gather my guts to confront him," said Arthur, blushing.

Still hunched, Arthur started crawling away from Yao's home. "Come on, let's go home," he muttered.

Ludwig stared at the prince's retreating back. Inwardly, he saluted this remarkable firebender who was capable of turning the usually confident prince into an embarrassed, bubbling mess. Then, he followed Arthur.


	2. Chapter 2

Arthur couldn't take his mind off the fascinating firebender from that afternoon. Even as he lay on his balcony outside, looking at the stars in the sky, his mind kept drifting back to Yao.

There was a knock on Arthur's door.

"Yes?" called Arthur from outside.

"Can I come in?" It was the Queen, Arthur's mother.

"Yeah, sure."

Arthur door quietly opened to reveal the Earth Queen. She was beautiful beyond her years, and looked much younger than she really was. Most of her female subjects envied her for that. "Arthur, dear," she said, stepping into Arthur's room. "Is something wrong?"

"Huh?" Arthur got up from where he was lying and entered his room to speak with his mother. "What makes you say that?"

The Queen winked at the prince. "A mother's hunch."

Arthur debated with himself whether or not to tell his mother about Yao. She could give him some good advice. But Arthur didn't know what her opinion was on him falling in love and dating. When Arthur was growing up, he never had any romantic interests that worried his parents. And now that he thought he might be attracted to someone, he didn't know what to do.

In the end, Arthur decided not to bother his mother with his romantic interest – she might make too big a deal out of it, gushing about how her "little Artie" is all grown up and falling in love, or something like that. Arthur shuddered. He hated it when his mother mollycoddled him.

"It's nothing," Arthur finally said.

The Queen frowned – she knew something was bothering her son. But she left it at that. She didn't want to pry too deeply into her son's affairs. That was not what mothers do. "You know you can come to me if there is something wrong, right?"

Arthur laughed and kissed his mother on the cheek. "Yes, Mother," he replied. "I'll definitely go to you if it's something I can't handle."

The Queen nodded, seemingly satisfied. "By the way…"

Arthur looked expectantly at his mother.

"Your father told me to remind you about the party tomorrow night."

"The party. Right…" mumbled Arthur. The Earth King was organising a party for one of his ministers who was going into retirement. It was sort of a farewell party for him.

"Natalia is going to be there," the Queen said, wagging her eyebrows suggestively.

Arthur's jaw dropped open. He had totally forgotten about the crazy, obsessive girl!

"I… I'll be there," Arthur told his mother.

The Queen smiled at her son before she walked out, closing Arthur's room door behind her.

Once his mother had left, Arthur flopped down onto his bed. Now that he knew Natalia would be there, he dreaded going to the party tonight.

Natalia was a daughter of the Grand Secretariat of Ba Sing Se, and basically grew up alongside Arthur, with two of her older siblings. But because she was Arthur's age, they were closer than Arthur was to her other siblings – they had the same tutor, and would often have their lessons together with some other ministers' children in the Royal Palace who were of the same age as Arthur. Natalia had an obsession with her brother, Ivan, when she was growing up, but as she matured and was well into the age whereby she was able to get married, her attention shifted to the prince. Arthur generally dismissed Natalia's affections. He had a strong feeling that she wanted to marry him just so that she could be crowned Earth Queen since he was, without any doubt, going to become Earth King in the future. Arthur knew that secretly, Natalia was still head over heels in love with her brother.

Perhaps Arthur could invite Mathias, a friend he had met when Mathias' father was visiting the Earth Kingdom when he was very young, to make the party more bearable. When Mathias and his father returned to the Northern Water Tribe, Arthur and Mathias communicated with one other through letters. Mathias was currently on a trip around the world to "discover himself", making a stop in the Earth Kingdom to see his good friend and sample the goodies (food) in the region. Along with him on his journey was his long-time partner, Lukas, and Lukas' brother, Emil, who wanted to tag along when he discovered that his brother was leaving on a long journey. Both Mathias and Lukas weren't benders, but Emil was a waterbender.

But Arthur didn't know if Mathias would be able to make it on such short notice. No doubt, Mathias would bring Lukas as his date if he came. Arthur had no objections about it – Lukas didn't cause any trouble at all – he was a quiet, stoic man, and seemed to be able to keep the loud-mouthed Mathias in check.

Yes, Arthur would pay Mathias a visit tomorrow and invite him to the party. For now, he would just forget about Natalia, and would deal with her when the time came.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, after inviting Mathias to the party that night (to which Mathias said that he would go), Arthur went over to Yao's house to spy on the firebender again. It wasn't as if he could help it – he was so damn curious about Yao. Arthur wanted to know what Yao did, where he worked, his daily routine, what he liked, what ticked him off… everything!

"My prince," Ludwig panted from behind Arthur. "Am I right in thinking that you are going to the firebender's place again?"

"Yes," replied Arthur.

"Spying on people is not a very gentlemanly thing to do," Ludwig admonished. "And not to mention, illegal!"

"Well," said Arthur huffily. "Since you don't approve of what I am doing, why don't you mind your own business and I'll meet you back here in three hours? No one knows who I am and is going to harm me anyway."

"But my prince!"

"Go!"

With much hesitation, Ludwig left Arthur to his own devices.

Content that he no longer had his personal guard to impede his efforts to spy on the firebender, Arthur happily made his way to Yao's house.

When the prince got there, he was just in time to witness Yao practice his firebending in the back of his home, where there was a small lawn.

Arthur watched in awe as Yao generated long-range fire whips that broke apart some large rocks that had most probably fallen due to some construction going on in that area.

When Yao was done, Arthur had to resist the urge to clap in appreciation.

Yao shot four flames towards the four poles in the corners of the lawn. He settled himself down on the ground, as if meditating.

Arthur observed the flames as they got larger and then their intensity diminished. At first, he thought that the wind was influencing the fire, but as time went on, Arthur realised that Yao was mentally controlling the intensity of the flames. Eventually, the flames became so large that they congregated above Yao in a huge mass of fire. Arthur's gasped involuntarily when he realised that Yao had just generated a fire lion in front of him.

As soon as the fire lion appeared, it disappeared.

Then, Yao spoke. "I know you're watching me, aru."

_Shit!_ Arthur froze. He had been discovered! But how? He didn't make a sound!

"You know, you can come out – I don't bite."

Arthur slowly stood from his hiding place. His face was flushed in embarrassment at being caught spying on the firebender. "How did you know…?"

Yao turned to face Arthur and smiled. "I can sense people's auras. I sensed yours yesterday too, but decided not to say anything in front of my brothers and sister. I can't do that around large crowds, though – too many of them blending into one another."

"Oh." Now Arthur felt stupid. He shouldn't have been snooping around if Yao could sense him.

"But it's okay, aru," Yao said. "I don't detect any malevolence from you. So I know you don't mean any harm."

Arthur lifted his hands. "I don't! I really don't!" he exclaimed. "It's just that… I saw you catch that robber with your firebending yesterday… and I was very impressed…"

Yao laughed. Arthur was secretly pleased to see that Yao was blushing. "It's nothing – it was just some firebending!"

"But… but I saw you create that lion!" Arthur said. "I've never seen any firebenders do that before!"

Yao was still smiling. He bent his knees and shot out a large fire from his right fist. He waved his hand, and the fire moulded itself into a fire lion.

Arthur had to shield his eyes from the bright light of the fire.

"It's a technique my grandfather taught me, aru," Yao explained. He manipulated the fire lion to the ground to sit obediently in front of Arthur. "It's an art form – it's unique to members of my family. My sister is a firebender too, but she doesn't have the strength to create a lion. She can create a rose, though."

"Wow," Arthur gaped at the fire lion in front of him. He really wanted to touch it, but was afraid of burning himself. "Can you create a rose?"

Yao shook his head. He diminished the fire, causing the lion to disappear. "No," he replied. "The more delicate art forms are reserved for females."

"I see… I think it's amazing," said Arthur.

Yao laughed again. "It took me the better part of my early years to perfect it," he told Arthur. "I used to cry when my grandfather punished me for not concentrating enough to get it right."

Arthur smiled. "That's part of learning, I guess." He pictured Yao as a little child running around and practicing his firebending. Arthur's smile widened. Yao must have been very cute back then. He still was. "Well, I'm Arthur," Arthur introduced himself, holding out a hand towards Yao.

Yao shook the proffered hand. "My name is Yao, aru."

"It's nice to meet you," said Arthur. "Do you want to grab some tea sometime or…?"

Yao chuckled. "Tea would be great."


	4. Chapter 4

The farewell party for the King's minister was satisfactory, in Arthur's opinion. So far. Arthur hadn't seen Natalia, and he hoped he didn't see her for the entire duration of the night.

Arthur was conversing with a friend of his, Antonio, when Mathias approached them with a glass of wine in his hand. "Yo, Toni!" he yelled, draping an arm around Antonio's shoulder. "How about that lass you were trying to woo?"

"Oh yeah," Arthur perked up and seemed interested. He leaned forward and poked Antonio in the ribs cheekily. "How's it going with Bella?"

Antonio turned pink. "It's alright, I guess," he replied. "Slowly, but surely…"

"You dog, you!" Mathias roared cheerfully, and elbowed Antonio. "So when are you going to ask her?"

"Eh?" Antonio's eyes widened, and he looked at Arthur and Mathias as if they'd each grown an extra head. "I don't know?! Do you think it's too soon?"

Arthur smiled softly at Antonio. He placed a hand on Antonio's shoulder. "You will know when it is right – your heart knows and it will tell you."

Mathias looked at Arthur strangely. "Since when have you become so sentimental, dude?"

Arthur laughed with his two friends. "Perhaps I have been bitten by the love bug too," he said secretively.

Both Mathias and Antonio's eyes widened. In all their years growing up, Arthur had never expressed an attraction to anyone. "WHO? WHO IS IT?!" they bellowed together.

Arthur looked innocently at them. "Secret."

"Noooo!" Mathias grabbed Arthur's sleeve and tugged it incessantly. "Don't do this to me, man! Come on, you have to tell me who is it!"

Arthur pried Mathias' fingers away from his sleeve, in fear of Mathias damaging his shirt. "I don't even know if he likes me yet!" he said. "When I'm sure that I'm courting him, I will tell you!"

"Oh? It's a 'him'?" Antonio inquired.

"Yes."

No one said anything else after that, for they were interrupted by Natalia gently tapping her finger on Arthur's shoulder. "Prince Arthur?" an artificially sweet voice whispered into Arthur's ear.

Arthur stiffened. Antonio and Mathias pretended to be busy with other things.

Rigidly, Arthur turned around. "Yes, Natalia?" he grit out.

"Please dance with me," Natalia said. "I like this song, and it's a nice song to dance to."

Arthur nodded. He took Natalia's hand and led her to the dance floor to dance. Arthur prepared to lead the dance, and as Natalia settled into his arms, he tried to imagine that he was dancing with Yao and not Natalia.

But it was very hard – Natalia and Yao were so different. Natalia had unfriendly eyes and a very icy demeanour. Whereas Yao had passionate eyes and a very warm demeanour. Arthur couldn't do it.

Instead, Arthur bit the inside of his cheek and endured dancing with Natalia. As they danced, Arthur looked at Natalia. She was at ease with the entire situation. So at ease, that at one point, Natalia even rested her head on Arthur's chest.

When the song ended, Arthur and Natalia stopped dancing. Arthur bowed deeply, and kissed Natalia's hand, for courtesy's sake.

Natalia let out a high-pitched giggle. "It was nice seeing you tonight, Prince Arthur."

"It was nice seeing you too, my lady," Arthur replied before turning around and leaving.


	5. Chapter 5

That night, Arthur didn't sleep well. He couldn't sleep – he was so excited at the prospect of meeting Yao the following day.

Yao told Arthur that he was working as a research assistant in Ba Sing Se University, and didn't get off work till 4pm. So they had arranged to meet at the Jasmine Dragon at 4.30pm for some tea.

Arthur wondered what sort of topics they would talk about. Did they even have anything in common?

Arthur buried his face into his pillow and smiled goofily to himself. No matter what, he was sure he'd find Yao very entertaining.

* * *

After Arthur's military meeting, he made his way to the Jasmine Dragon to meet Yao. He was early, but he didn't mind – it gave him time to compose himself and look presentable for Yao. Ludwig had made to follow Arthur out of the palace after the meeting, but the prince dismissed him – Arthur didn't want Yao to know that he was the prince just yet. It might scare Yao away.

Arthur found a nice, cosy spot in a quiet corner of the Jasmine Dragon. He ordered a pot of tea for himself; Arthur didn't know what sort of tea Yao liked, so he would let Yao order his own tea.

Arthur spent his time sipping his tea and gazing out of the window at the Earth Kingdom people doing their business. There were many shops selling a variety of things, such as clothes and accessories. Arthur observed an elderly lady help a young girl try on a garment she wanted to buy. All in all, the Kingdom was at peace.

At 4.40pm, Yao burst into the Jasmine Dragon, panting. He immediately caught sight of Arthur, sitting serenely by the window in a corner of the shop. Yao made his way towards Arthur.

"Sorry, I'm late!" Yao gasped. "There was an accident in the lab…!"

Arthur's eyes widened. "An accident?!" He immediately stood up and grabbed Yao by the shoulders, running his hands over Yao's body. "You're not injured, are you?"

Yao shook his head. He was still trying to catch his breath after running all the way to the Jasmine Dragon so that he wouldn't be too late to meet his new friend. "I'm… fine…!" he managed.

Arthur pulled out a chair and lightly pushed Yao onto it. "Sit down," he ordered. "Take your time."

Soon, Yao recovered from his run and was breathing normally. He laughed sheepishly and apologised for making Arthur worry about him for no reason.

"Don't be silly – what are you sorry for?!" Arthur waved a hand dismissively. "What tea would you like?" he asked Yao as a waiter approached them to take Yao's order.

"Er… give me a jasmine green tea, aru," Yao said to the waiter, who promptly nodded and headed off to prepare Yao's tea.

Arthur then turned to Yao. "What caused the accident?"

Yao sniggered. "Disposing unoxidised sodium with water," he deadpanned. "There was an explosion, aru."

Arthur winced. "Ouch. Was the person supposed to do that?"

"No… Well, he thought he was disposing oxidised sodium – he did it correctly with water. But we didn't know that there was a pocket of unoxidised sodium there, so yeah."

It was then Yao's pot of tea arrived. Yao thanked the waiter, and poured some tea into his cup.

Arthur gazed at Yao for a moment as Yao took a sip of his tea and sighed in pleasure. He wondered if Yao would look like that when Arthur kissed him. Realising what had just gone through his mind, Arthur's eyes widened, and he vigorously shook his head.

"So… I hope you don't mind me asking, but what's a firebender doing in the Earth Kingdom?"

Yao looked up at Arthur from his tea. "My father got a job here as a professor in Ba Sing Se University, so my family moved here," he told Arthur. "He taught anthropology, aru."

"You're an Earth Kingdom citizen?"

"Oh no," the firebender replied, shaking his head. "I was born in the Fire Nation. So was Kiku. But Yong Soo, Mei and Hong Kong were born here, thus making them Earth Kingdom citizens."

Arthur rested his chin on his hand. "I would like to meet your family someday," he mused.

Yao's face brightened. "You can come to my place anytime!" he said. "I'll even get Mei to show you her fire rose if she's around!"

Arthur laughed. "Okay, I'll hold you to your word."

* * *

In Arthur's opinion, his meeting with Yao was rewarding, and Arthur found himself merrily skipping back to the palace.

Arthur had found out, amongst other things, that Yao's parents had perished in a boat that had sunk in the ocean shortly after Hong Kong was born while on an academic trip, and that Yao had single-handedly managed the family after that. He had also discovered that amongst Yao and his siblings, Yao, Mei and Hong Kong were firebenders. He learnt that Yao, just like him, loved tea, and could spend hours in a day just drinking the beverage. He even found out a bit about what Yao was researching on as a research assistant – the effect of glycyrrhetic acid on diabetic rats.

However, when Yao asked Arthur what he did for a living, Arthur had to offer him a vague description, since Arthur didn't want him knowing he was the prince just yet, so he told Yao he was in the military. Which was quite true. So Arthur didn't feel TOO guilty about lying to Yao.

"I take it the meeting went well?"

Arthur jumped at the voice. He whipped his head around to glare at the owner of the voice. Ludwig was leaning on a pillar at the entrance of the Royal Palace.

"Ludwig!" Arthur exclaimed. "I thought you went home?!"

"Had to make sure the prince returned to the palace in one piece," Ludwig shrugged.

Arthur rolled his eyes. Sometimes, he thought that Ludwig took his job way too seriously. "Right. I'm safely home and in one piece; you can go home now."

"You didn't answer my question."

"What?"

"You went to see the firebender, didn't you?" Ludwig asked gently. "How did it go?"

Arthur blanched. "How'd you know that?!" he demanded.

Ludwig snorted. "Please. You had that lovestruck look on your face when you dismissed me and left the palace earlier. It was obvious you were going to meet him."

_Drat._ Arthur cursed himself silently. He had to learn not to be so open with his emotions. "It was great," he finally replied. "I learnt a lot of things about him. I really like him a lot more now."

Ludwig smiled at the prince. "I am happy for you, my prince."

"I hope it works out, you know?"

"Knowing you, I'm sure it will," Ludwig told Arthur. "When are you seeing him again?"

"He's invited me to his place," replied Arthur. "Since I said I wanted to meet his family. But I didn't confirm a date."

"Hm."

"Do you think I could just turn up unannounced?"

"The polite thing to do would be to make an appointment, my prince."

Arthur sighed. "I thought so. Well, I guess I'll send him a letter or something."

"That would be best."

"Thanks, Ludwig."

The guard looked at Arthur with a tender expression. "You are like a son to me, my prince. I've watched you grow up into the man you are today. I only want you to be happy."

Arthur felt his throat go dry. He had no idea his personal guard felt this way about him. He nodded. "I understand."

With one hand, Ludwig reached out and patted Arthur's shoulder firmly with his palm. Then, Ludwig turned around to depart, leaving Arthur to enter the Royal Palace alone.


	6. Chapter 6

Natalia was in a bad mood. When she was moody, the whole world knew for she vocalised her moods very loudly. She would stomp around, slam doors, scream at the servants… Naturally, no one wanted to be near Natalia when she was in a bad mood.

Natalia was out in her garden by the pond, throwing rocks angrily into the river. Normally, she would be skipping rocks, as she was rather good at that. But now, her temper had gotten the better of her.

Ivan strolled past, a book in his hand. He glanced at his sister throwing a tantrum.

Ivan closed his book and walked towards Natalia. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Natalia stopped herself from throwing another rock into the pond. Her beloved brother could not see her being so undignified!

Natalia turned around to face Ivan. "It's the prince," she said morosely.

Ivan raised an eyebrow. "Prince Arthur? What about him?"

"He's been ignoring me!" Natalia wailed.

"What do you mean?"

"He has been cold to me! And he hasn't returned my letters!" cried Natalia.

Ivan pressed his lips into a thin line. "Maybe give him some time? Maybe he is busy, da?" The thing about his sister was that she was very impatient.

"He can't be too busy to reply my letters or to call me back!" retorted Natalia. "Besides, at the party the other day, he was very distant towards me!"

Ivan sighed. _Here we go again._

"I know there's something up with him, and I'm going to get to the bottom of it!"

* * *

Arthur liked to practice his earthbending away from the Royal Palace. There were too many busybodies and gossips in the palace, and he didn't like to be distracted.

So, Arthur chose a quiet spot with lots of free space to practice. As instructed, Ludwig guarded him discreetly from a distance. One could only see Ludwig if they were looking for him.

Arthur decided to try out something he learnt by watching the Dai Li. The Dai Li were masters of the rock glove technique – they usually used it to apprehend the wrongdoers in the Kingdom. Apart from that, it was an important technique for them in battle. Arthur thought it was a fantastic technique, for when enough force was exerted, it was capable of cracking and breaking large boulders. He had even asked one of the Dai Li agents how they did it.

But the downside of the rock glove technique was that Arthur couldn't use it to fight against another earthbender. It would be nullified by the other earthbender before it could even reach him.

Nevertheless, Arthur wanted to try it out.

For starters, Arthur threw rock gloves at the rock wall in front of him. At first, he had a bit of a problem forming the rocks into hand-shaped rocks, but eventually, he got the hang of it. When Arthur got more adventurous, he tried to throw the rock gloves as a projectile into the rock wall.

Arthur got bored soon enough. There was a mischievous look on his face as his eyes darted over to where Ludwig stood with his back facing Arthur. Without warning, Arthur threw two rock gloves at Ludwig. They caught Ludwig's arms and clamped them behind his back, effectively handcuffing him.

"OI!"

Arthur laughed heartily at the irate look on the guard's face.

"LET ME GO THIS INSTANT!"

"Okay, okay!" yelled Arthur to Ludwig. "It was just a joke – you don't have to get so pissed off about it!"

Arthur waved his hands and the rock gloves dislodged from Ludwig's arms and fell to the ground, becoming normal rock.

"Arthur, aru?"

Arthur quickly turned around. Much to his delight, he came face to face with Yao, who had appeared from behind a boulder.

Yao's curious face turned into a cheerful one. "It is you!" he exclaimed. "I thought I heard you!"

"Y-Yao?" Arthur stared at the firebender with wide eyes. He hadn't expected Yao to find him there. "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing," replied Yao. "Was just walking around, when I thought I heard your voice, aru."

"Oh." Arthur turned red. "Was I very loud?"

Yao hid a grin behind his hand. "No. You just have a very special voice."

"O-Oh."

"What are you doing, by the way?"

Arthur puffed out his chest proudly. "I'm practicing my earthbending," he told Yao.

Yao's eyes lit up. "Do you usually come here to practice?"

"Well, sometimes…" replied Arthur. "I don't really like to practice at the pa-" Arthur stopped himself before he could reveal his identity to Yao. "I don't like to practice at home."

Yao looked at the rocks haphazardly lying on the ground, thanks to Arthur earthbending them. "Can I see you earthbend, aru?"

Arthur laughed. "You want to see ME earthbend?"

"Why not? You've seen me firebend," Yao pointed out.

Arthur was still laughing. "Good point."

Arthur decided not to show Yao the rock gloves technique he had been practicing. He was still new to it, and hadn't really gotten the hang of it yet. Arthur bent his knees and held his arms low. Then, with a sweeping motion, he brought his arms above his head, bringing a large rock wall from the ground. If Arthur had been a non-bender, it would have been impossible for him to break the wall. But Arthur was an earthbender. So, Arthur took a step forward, and brought his fist onto the wall, punching it lightly. Immediately, the rock wall crumbled to the ground.

Yao observed Arthur earthbend in admiration. By the end of it, Yao was clapping his hands. "That was great, aru!"

Arthur scratched his head sheepishly. "It… it was nothing – it was just a simple work of earthbending," he mumbled.

"It was still awesome," said Yao.

Arthur blushed. He didn't think Yao would be so easily pleased. Or maybe that was because Yao wasn't an earthbender and didn't know how easy it was to create a rock wall and crush it down. "Thanks."

The two of them remained silent for a while. Yao was looking at the rocks on the ground, and Arthur was embarrassedly looking everywhere but at Yao.

Finally, Yao spoke up. "If you're done practicing, would you like to come to my place for a snack, aru?"

Arthur looked at Yao. "Huh?"

"Yeah." Yao's gaze shifted to look at the ground, and shyly moved some small rocks around with his foot. "Kiku has just returned from his trip to the Fire Nation, and he's brought back some Fire Nation snacks… such as fire flakes, sizzle-crisps, fire gummies and the like… and I was wondering if you'd like to come over and have some?"

"Oh." Arthur stole a glance over at Ludwig, who was pretending to be a passer-by. "Yeah, sure! I have never tried Fire Nation food before!"

Yao smiled. "It's quite spicy, as they like to put spices to everything they eat… but once you get used to it, the food is quite delicious!"

"I'm game for it!"

Yao made to leave towards his home. Arthur followed behind him, feeling like a love-sick puppy, but not minding it at all.

Ludwig, on the other hand, sighed long-sufferingly, and trailed behind the prince at a distance, so that Yao would not be suspicious of his presence.

* * *

Out of all of Yao's siblings, Arthur had to say he favoured Hong Kong the most. Unlike Kiku, who was very serious, Hong Kong was a prankster at heart, and with his poker-faced expression, he could pull off any prank successfully. Unlike Yong Soo, Hong Kong was not touchy-feely and didn't claim that he invented every damn thing in the world. Unlike Mei, Hong Kong was not overexcited.

Yes, Arthur liked Hong Kong.

BOOM!

"Hong Kong!" Mei cried from the kitchen.

Yao groaned. By the sounds coming from outside the house, it looked like Hong Kong had released yet another lot of firecrackers.

"Your home is so lively," Arthur commented as he took a sip of the tea Yao had prepared. Yao's house was unlike the palace, where the palace staff mostly left Arthur to his own devices. It could get very lonely, which was why Arthur often found himself escaping from the confines of the dreary palace. In all honesty, Arthur craved the human companionship that could be found in Yao's family.

"Too lively," muttered Yao darkly.

Hong Kong soon entered the house. The side of his face was blackened with burnt ash from the fireworks. The edge of his shirt was burnt. He looked a mess, but the gleeful expression on his face made up for it. "Next time, I'm going to try and make a dragon!"

"Did you clean up after yourself, aru?"

"Will do it later!" yelled Hong Kong as he disappeared into his room to change his attire.

Yao turned to Arthur. "I'm really sorry for the state of my house," he said apologetically. "I really should have made sure Hong Kong was going to be in his best behaviour."

Arthur erupted into laughter. "Don't be! I like your home," he told Yao. "Compared to my home, it's very… energetic!"

Yao raised an eyebrow. He was now questioning Arthur's sanity.

"It's true!" said Arthur energetically. "The people in my house are so stiff and uptight!"

"You parents, you mean?"

"Somewhat… And the servants too."

Yao looked at his teacup guiltily. Sometimes, he forgot that not everyone was as fortunate as he was to have a large family to share the joys and pains of life with. Moreover, Arthur told him that he was an only child and could get very lonely at times. "I'm sorry…" Yao said quietly. "I didn't think…"

Arthur barked out a delighted sound. He reached forward and put his hand onto Yao's. "Don't be daft!" he said. "I'm not upset or anything!"

"Well, I'm still sorry," said Yao. "Let's not talk about families then, shall we?"

Arthur shrugged.

"How are you liking the fire flakes, aru?"

"Mm! It's good!" said Arthur. "A bit too spicy, but there's just the right amount of seasoning on it. I like it."

Yao beamed. He was glad Arthur liked Fire Nation food.


	7. Chapter 7

Natalia stormed into her house.

Natalia had spent the day following Arthur around, and she had found out why Arthur was not replying her letters, and was so distant and cold towards her during the party the other night. He was spending time with a Fire Nation emigrant! By the looks of it, Arthur was smitten over him.

Natalia growled deeply in her throat. She slammed the door of her room shut.

Natalia could not have Arthur liking someone else. Arthur was supposed to fall in love with her and then ask for her hand in marriage. Then, when he became Earth King, she would become Earth Queen. Her plan was flawless!

Natalia had to get rid of the Fire Nation boy.

* * *

SPLASH!

Arthur and Yao landed in the water together.

They had been walking together on a gentle hill after a lunch together to digest their food when Arthur tripped on the ground. He fell onto Yao, who lost his footing. So they tumbled down the hill together and found themselves sitting in the river.

Both Arthur and Yao were surprised at the turn of events.

They stared at one another for a moment before bursting out in laughter.

"You should have seen your face!"

Yao harrumphed. "What about my face, aru?"

Arthur snorted into his hand. "It was so cute!"

Then, there was silence as Yao stared at Arthur.

Arthur, horrified at what he had just blurted out, quickly tried to rectify the situation. "I… I mean, it was funnily cute!" he shouted.

Yao shook his head forcefully to recover. "Right."

Arthur got up and squeezed the water out of the hem of his shirt. "Come on, I'll get you home – you're soaking wet." He held out his hand to pull Yao up.

Yao nodded. He took Arthur's hand and hoisted himself up. "You can borrow my clothes."

"It's okay," said Arthur. "It was my fault anyway – I tripped and fell onto you. I should have been more careful."

"But you're going to catch a cold, aru!"

"I promise I'll go straight home to change, okay?"

Yao frowned at Arthur, but didn't argue. "Promise?"

"Promise."

After Arthur sent Yao home and walked back to the Royal Palace, Ludwig appeared from hiding and joined him on the journey home.

"That was quite the slip of the tongue, huh, my prince?"

Arthur looked at Ludwig in distress. "Oh my god, I'm sure he thinks I'm some kind of pervert now!" he moaned. "What was I thinking, saying that out loud?!"

"There, there…" Ludwig soothed the prince, placing a hand on Arthur's back. "It wasn't that bad. So he knows you think he's cute – that's all there is."

Arthur grunted.

At the turning to go back to the Royal Palace, Arthur didn't turn. Instead, he walked in the opposite direction.

"Aren't you going home?" Ludwig inquired.

Arthur shook his head miserably. "I'm just going to… bask in my misery…"

"But you're drenched! What you said wasn't even that bad!"

"I don't care."

* * *

Natalia, seated in her study, was rubbing her hands together in glee. Opposite her was her unwilling partner in crime, her brother, Ivan.

"Brother," Natalia said sweetly. "You said you have some friends who know chi-blocking?"

Ivan looked at Natalia cautiously. To tell the truth, he was a little scared of her. Her plans were usually quite cruel. "Da, I do, why?"

"I found out through Arthur's guard…"

"The tall blonde one? Ludwig?"

"Yes, him." Natalia glared at her brother for interrupting her. "Anyway, Prince Arthur has taken a liking towards a firebender," she told Ivan. "I need to get rid of the firebender, therefore I need your chi-blocker friends to chi-block him so that he can't firebend."

"He?"

Natalia shrugged. "I guess Prince Arthur likes males too."

"What are you planning to do to him?" Frankly, Ivan was afraid of the answer.

"I'm going to send him back to the Fire Nation," said Natalia. She was smiling serenely.

Ivan relaxed. That didn't sound too bad.

"One piece at a time."


	8. Chapter 8

The Earth Kingdom was holding their annual Harvest Festival. It was to thank the gods for a fruitful harvest that year.

As part of the celebration, there was a carnival where various game stalls and shows were held.

Arthur had decided to attend the carnival. He was accompanied by Mathias, who had brought his boyfriend, Lukas. Lukas' brother, Emil, was following grudgingly behind them. Lukas didn't trust Emil to be alone, and thus, he was forced to tag along the trio.

Mathias was attempting to catch a goldfish for Lukas. He wanted the biggest, fattest goldfish possible, so it was taking some time for him to choose one that suited his fancy.

Arthur watched in amusement as Mathias pointed to a strange-looking goldfish with huge eyes that were too heavy for it to carry and made it droop to the bottom of the basin, and asked Lukas if he wanted that sad-looking goldfish. Lukas whacked Mathias on the head and told Mathias that he didn't want such a depressing-looking fish.

Briefly, the prince wondered if he would ever get the chance to do this with Yao.

Emil was blatantly ignoring Mathias and Lukas. He dug into his bag of lychee nuts and popped one into his mouth, munching it as he looked around, wondering if there was anything more interesting to do than to listen to Mathias and Lukas bicker.

Then, a quartet of girls appeared on the nearby stage and began dancing a traditional Earth Kingdom dance.

Mathias looked up from the fish and watched. He didn't want to miss a chance to immerse himself in Earth Kingdom culture. Lukas, noticing that his boyfriend had shifted his attention somewhere else, also looked towards the stage and observed the dancing girls.

When the girls were done, they bowed, and there was applause for them.

The crowd around the stage dissipated, and it was then, Arthur caught sight of Yao gazing at the stage area. He was with Yong Soo and Hong Kong, who were immersed in an argument.

"Hey." Arthur felt a tug on his sleeve.

"Hm?"

"Do you know who that is?" Emil pointed at Hong Kong.

Arthur looked at the direction of Emil's finger. "You mean, Hong Kong?"

"That's his name?"

"Yeah. I know him through his oldest brother."

"Can you introduce us?" asked Emil.

Arthur stared at the waterbender. Was it him, or was there a blush tinging Emil's cheeks?

"Well, I'm not sure if Lukas…" Arthur glanced at Lukas who went back to choosing a goldfish, and his voice trailed off. "Nevermind – he seems busy. Come on."

Arthur brought Emil to Yao, who was still staring at the stage. "Hello, Yao," Arthur greeted.

Startled, Yao jumped. He wasn't expecting to see anyone he knew in the carnival. "Oh, Arthur!" he said. "Hi!"

"This is Emil," Arthur introduced the silver-haired waterbender. Emil gave a shy wave. "He's the brother of my friend's boyfriend."

"Oh," said Yao. He reached out to shake Emil's hand. "I'm Yao, aru."

"Emil here would like to be introduced to Hong Kong," Arthur told Yao with a wink.

"Oh?" Yao stole a glance at Hong Kong. He was still arguing with Yong Soo. Then realisation dawned upon Yao what exactly it was that Arthur meant. "OH."

"Yeah," said Arthur. "OH," he imitated Yao. Arthur nudged Emil playfully. Emil swatted his elbow away.

"Hey, Hong Kong," Yao said, poking his brother. "Hong Kong!"

"What?" was Hong Kong's deadpan reply.

"Stop arguing with Yong Soo, will you, aru?!"

"He like, started it!"

Yong Soo stuck out his tongue at Hong Kong before hiding behind Yao.

"Okay, you two, stop arguing!" ordered Yao. "Hong Kong," he said, turning to his youngest brother. "This is Emil." Yao gently pushed Emil forward towards Hong Kong. "He would like to get to know you."

Hong Kong shrugged. "Okay." Then, he walked towards Emil and shook his hand. They began a conversation and made their way away from Arthur, Yao and Yong Soo.

"Don't go too far!" called Arthur. "Lukas will get pissed!"

Emil replied with a wave.

"Hey, brother Yao?" Yong Soo wrapped an arm around Yao's shoulder. "Do you mind if I meet you back here? I want to play some games, da-ze!"

"Okay," Yao replied. "Be back here in two hours."

"Right. See you!" Yong Soo ran off, leaving Arthur and Yao alone.

It was now quieter between them, so Arthur directed his gaze towards Yao. "I didn't expect to see you here tonight."

Yao chuckled. "Well, Yong Soo and Hong Kong dragged me here, aru."

"Where are Kiku and Mei?"

"Kiku's at home, reading – he doesn't like social events like this. Mei is somewhere here too, I reckon – she's with her friends."

"Well, it's great to see you here," Arthur told Yao.

Yao nodded. "I thought I'd be bored out of my mind here, but now I've found a friendly face."

"Let me introduce you to my friends – Emil's brother and his partner. Come on!" Arthur led Yao over to the goldfish stand, where Mathias was now attempting to catch Lukas' goldfish.

"Guys!" Arthur called.

Both Mathias and Lukas looked up.

"This is Yao," said Arthur gesturing towards Yao.

"Hi, I'm Mathias," Mathias introduced himself, shaking Yao's hand.

Lukas did likewise. "Lukas."

Yao peered into the basin Mathias and Lukas were crowding around. "Which fish are you getting, aru?"

Mathias pointed to a fat, orange goldfish. "That one."

"Hm." Yao looked around in the basin. "Why don't you get that one?" He pointed at a calico goldfish.

"Mathias here wants the fattest goldfish," said Lukas.

Yao laughed. "But the fatter ones usually have health problems and don't live for very long," he told the Water Tribe man. "Try catching the calico one."

"He's right, you know," murmured Lukas to Mathias. "I don't want something you got for me to expire so early."

"O… okay."

So Mathias caught the calico goldfish for Lukas, while Lukas caught a black goldfish for Mathias ("Because its colouring is special, just like you," Lukas told Mathias).

When Lukas discovered Emil had disappeared with Hong Kong, he dragged Mathias along to look for Emil.

That left Arthur and Yao alone once again.

From watching Mathias and Lukas' disappearing backs, Arthur turned around to look at Yao. "Do you want a goldfish?"

Yao looked at Arthur incredulously, and then erupted into laughter. "It's okay – the reason we don't have pets at home is that Yong Soo might poison them, aru!"

"Oh."

"Why don't we look for something to eat? I don't have to be back here for two hours, and I feel like munching on something."

At Yao's suggestion, Arthur brightened up. "There's a popular bakery that has set up a stall here –their cakes are delicious! I'll take you there!" Without realising what he was doing, Arthur had grabbed Yao's hand and pulled him in the direction of the stall.


	9. Chapter 9

"You know, I haven't seen Natalia lately," commented Arthur offhandedly to his personal guard, as he finished doing some push-ups in the palace grounds.

"Isn't that a good thing, my prince?" Ludwig said. "You don't seem very fond of her in the first place."

"Yeah." Arthur stood up. "But it's strange – usually she'll turn up at random times, scaring the hell out of me, and follow me around. But I have seen neither hide nor hair of her."

Ludwig sniggered. "Maybe she has found somebody else to stalk. Although…"

Arthur put the towel he had been using to wipe his sweat away down on a chair. He looked at Ludwig questioningly. "Although what, Ludwig?"

"She did approach me about two weeks ago and asked about the firebender."

Arthur frowned deeply. That sounded strange. "What did she ask?"

Ludwig had an equally curious frown on his face. "About him. General inquiries – what he did, where he stays… those kind of questions."

"What did you tell her?"

"The truth."

Arthur looked deep in thought. "But what I'm wondering is how she knows about Yao."

"That's something you probably should find out, my prince."

* * *

_Natalia stepped out of the horse-drawn carriage she was riding and sniffed the air. It smelled calm. It smelled like a garden of sunflowers. She liked sunflowers._

_Natalia entered the Royal Palace gracefully and with poise. She nodded politely at the guards who saluted her._

_Then Natalia saw it – the ballroom where the event was taking place. Wordlessly, she moved into the ballroom._

_The ballroom was bright. The guests were arriving. Some of them were busy talking to one another._

_Natalia caught sight of Prince Arthur at the back of the ballroom. He was talking quietly to Ludwig. His demeanour was solemn._

_Natalia approached the prince and curtsied deeply. "Prince Arthur, I am so sorry for the death of your friend, Yao. I offer my most sincere condolences."_

At that point in time, Natalia's eyes shot open. She sat up, briefly wondering where she was. When she realised she was in her bedroom, she sighed. It was a delightful dream while it lasted.

Nonetheless, Natalia smiled to herself.

_I can make that happen. I will make that happen._

* * *

When Yao got to work, he found a bouquet of fire lilies sitting on his desk.

_Are these for me?_ Yao wondered. He looked around to see who might have delivered them, but the office was empty, save for a graduate student working on her desk.

"Lili," Yao spoke up.

The graduate student looked from her work at Yao. "Yeah?"

"Do you know if this is for me?" Yao held out the bouquet of fire lilies.

"Oh yes!" Lili gushed. "They ARE for you! Early this morning, a delivery boy came in and asked me where you sat, so I directed him to your desk. Why?"

"Nothing…" said Yao, lifting the bouquet high and rotating it around, looking for an indication of the sender. "It doesn't have any note, so I don't know who it's from."

"Oh, how romantic!" Lili cooed. "You have a secret admirer!"

The firebender turned red at that statement. "I highly doubt so, aru," he mumbled, turning back to his desk.

Who could have sent them? Yao was puzzled. He had to wonder if the sender knew the connotation of fire lilies in the Fire Nation – it was generally used as a declaration of love between lovers, typically used to win over the heart of the person the lilies were sent to. What more, fire lilies were only native to the Fire Nation; they couldn't grow in the Earth Kingdom, so the sender had to have imported them, and thus, it would have cost a lot of money. Who had that kind of money to spend on Yao?

* * *

Arthur thought that Natalia's behaviour was rather strange, and so he had made it a quest to find out what she was up to. He had requested a palace guard who was excellent in espionage to secretly follow Natalia around.

But apparently, the guard reported that Natalia was not doing anything suspicious, and was merely going about her daily business.

Arthur didn't know whether to feel relieved or not.


	10. Chapter 10

Yao was making his way home from the university. It was quite a distance to walk, but Yao didn't mind – he usually enjoyed the quiet walk home; at least he could have some time to himself to think and reflect on the day.

However, that day, Yao could sense another aura that seemed to be following him. But he couldn't pinpoint as to who the aura belonged to. It was also quite ambiguous – Yao didn't know if it was a peaceful aura or a malicious aura.

Yao glanced to his left to see if the stranger would reveal himself. He looked to the other side.

Yet, there was no one.

Yao was beginning to get very nervous. Should he head back to the university where there'd be a crowd in order to safeguard him from this stranger, who most likely had wicked intentions?

Just as Yao was turning to go back to the university, he felt a pressure on the back of his neck and the lower part of his spine. Immediately, his knees went weak, and he gave a cry as he collapsed to the ground.

Yao tried to haul himself to his feet, but they wouldn't obey him. This sensation was new to him, and it scared him, being so helpless.

Yao looked up to see a tall figure looming over him. He was wearing a mask, and the sunlight that was streaming down prevented Yao from properly gauging his features. Yao had to shield his eyes from the sun with his hand to avoid blinding himself.

"I see from your reaction that you've never been chi-blocked before," the figure commented.

_Chi-blocked?_ Yao squinted at the stranger. Was that what had happened to him?

"No matter. This makes my job a lot easier."

Without warning, the unknown person threw a fistful of powder at Yao's face.

It was then Yao knew no more.

* * *

Natalia was in her parents' blacksmith workshop, awaiting Toris' delivery of Yao to her. Toris was an acquaintance of Ivan's – they had gone to school together, and still kept in contact with one another after graduating.

Natalia had everything planned out already. She was going to enjoy slowly killing the firebender and then bleeding him out. A friend told Natalia that he needed the blood from a firebender for a poison he was concocting, and since was already planning on killing Yao, she thought she would help her friend out and provide the blood he needed.

The door to the workshop burst open.

Natalia immediately looked up from where she was seated to see Toris and his partner, Feliks enter. Feliks was carrying an unconscious Yao inside.

"We've settled our end of the deal," said Toris as Feliks threw Yao on the ground in front of Natalia. "Now give us our money so that we can be on our way."

"Not so fast," Natalia said serenely. "Help me secure him."

Toris scowled. He was clearly upset that he was forced to do more work for Natalia. "Where?"

Natalia pointed to the ceiling in the centre of the workshop. There was a hook attached to the ceiling, and a long string of rope dangling in straight line from it.

Feliks frowned at the set-up. "Like, what do you want us to do?"

"Just use that rope to tie his hands together above his head."

Toris and Feliks hoisted Yao bonelessly from the ground. Yao was surprisingly light, and there was no effort in manoeuvring his body below the hook and tying his hands together.

When Toris and Feliks were done, Yao's body hung limply from his wrists bound together with the rope tied to the hook on the ceiling. He was in a kneeling position, and his body was slumped towards the floor, since he was unconscious and unable to support himself.

"Now tie his legs together," ordered Natalia, holding out a long piece of rope to Toris and Feliks.

Toris grunted, while Feliks glared at Natalia. "It would like, help if you were a bit nicer to us, you know."

Natalia rolled her eyes and glared at Feliks coldly. "Whatever."

Toris placed a placating hand on Feliks' shoulder, and looked warningly at him. _Don't piss her off, or we might be the next people at the end of this rope!_

Feliks got Toris' message, and clamped his mouth shut. Although a bit grudgingly.

Toris took the rope from Natalia and proceeded to bind Yao's legs together. As soon as he was done, he stood up. "That's it. We're done," he told Natalia.

"Good, good…" Natalia said, smiling somewhat evilly. She walked towards Yao, and circled around his body, surveying Toris and Feliks' work. After a moment, she beamed at Toris. "Well, good job, boys. Your money is outside, in an envelope placed behind the door at the back of this workshop."

Toris nodded, and then wordlessly, led Feliks out of the workshop and out of Natalia's life.

Natalia watched as Toris and Feliks walked out of her parents' workshop. Then, her attention shifted to the still unconscious Yao, hanging piteously from the ceiling. Natalia's wicked smile got wider as she thought about what she was about to do to the firebender in front of her. She was going to enjoy every second of torturing Yao.


End file.
